Cars

On Thursday, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel will officially open the IAA in Frankfurt, one of the most important auto shows in the world. The wind of change is engulfing the trade fair, and the "new mobility" it is selling turns out to be quite impressive, at least partially.

Forget the 600 HP it puts on the asphalt or its maximum speed of 250 km/h (155 mph). What counts is the range. Porsche says the latter is more than 500 km (310 miles). This is what makes the Taycan a strong contender for the best electric vehicle on the market.

According to estimates, the state will probably earn around 500 million Euro (557 million Dollars or 432 million Pounds) per year through its new road toll for passenger cars. To critics, that kind of money is not nearly enough to justify the whole thing.

Lauda was always a pragmatist. As a Formula 1 racer he used to say he gladly would have taken other jobs, had he been good at anything else. This seems to mean he never wanted to be the hero standing in the center of it all, while almost everyone around him did.